


a remedy for bland sweet potatoes

by ivermectin



Category: Gossip Girl (TV 2007)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Gen, Mention of Past Suicide Attempt, Missing Scene, depressed teens looking out for each other, jenny humphrey probably had ptsd, mentioned past attempted rape, no bashing anybody, standard gossip girl content warnings, takes place during the end of s3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-10
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:34:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26928973
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ivermectin/pseuds/ivermectin
Summary: Eric isn't necessarily ready to forgive Jenny, but he doesn't want to see herthismiserable.In which Eric and Jenny talk things out, and Eric tries to understand why Jenny acted out the way she did.
Relationships: Jenny Humphrey & Eric van der Woodsen
Comments: 9
Kudos: 11





	a remedy for bland sweet potatoes

**Author's Note:**

> was what jenny did awful? yes. did any of the adults around her notice that things weren't okay and try to help her? no!! i wish the show hadn't done what they did to her character, but even within canon, i wish someone had looked out for her and done something before stuff escalated to the level that it did.
> 
> i love eric. i think he would take no shit from anyone, but at the same time, be willing to hear people out.

Jenny’s crying when Eric stumbles upon her, sitting in the hospital chair. Her voice breaks as she tells him, “Everyone hates me.”

Eric feels, with a sudden stab of almost horrified guilt, that he can barely recognize her. Her make-up’s a mess, all ruined, and she’s hurt him and his family and her family over and over, in unforgiveable ways maybe, but she’s his best friend, and he can tell that she’s hurting.

“Everyone hates me,” she says again, softer. “I just want to _disappear._ ”

Eric swallows, a quick intake of breath. He looks at her, silent, waiting for her to go on.

She reaches out, one of her hands landing awkwardly on one of his hands, pulling it away, and that’s when he notices that he’s been subconsciously tracing the scar on his wrist, letting his thoughts wander.

“Believe me, Jenny,” he says, as sincerely as he can. “You don’t want to disappear. It’s not worth it.”

Her lower lip wobbles, and she looks at him, something helpless in her expression.

“Eric,” she says, and they both stare at each other for a long moment.

 _Neither of us can be who the other person needs right now_ , Eric wants to say. Instead, he gets up, goes to find Dan. Dan, whatever else he is or isn’t, has always been a wonderful big brother to Jenny.

How Eric feels will have to wait.

~

Later on, in the evening, once everything’s somewhat sorted, and Jenny’s cried herself out, she knocks on Eric’s door.

“I’ve got us hot chocolate, and doughnuts,” she tells him carefully. “But I understand if you never want to see me again.”

“Who am I to refuse a good, sugary doughnut,” Eric says sardonically, but he gestures with his hands, asking her to sit down.

“I’m sorry,” Jenny offers.

“I’m going to need a little more than that this time, Jenny,” Eric says, but he says it gently. “What happened to you?”

“You know, I have no idea,” she says. “I know everyone thinks my dad’s perfect, but he was too busy yelling at me to actually, I don’t know, _ask me_ how I was feeling. Being queen at Constance sucks, but it was either hurt everyone around me, or be hurt. I never meant to hurt the people I cared about, like you, but it’s not really possible to draw clear lines like that.” She reaches for a doughnut, bites into it. “You just get lured in, and then you can’t get out.”

“I always thought you were stronger than that,” Eric says. “You know it doesn’t matter, that you’re Jenny from Brooklyn, right? Serena said something to me once, about how the people who care about you will always be there. You’ve learnt first-hand now, Upper East Side glamour isn’t all it’s cranked up to be.”

Jenny exhales deeply. “I guess I thought I was invincible. I didn’t expect Agnes to spike my drink and try to get me raped.”

Eric drops his doughnut on the floor. “ _What?_ ”

Jenny flinches at his reaction, and Eric says, softly, “I’m sorry, I had no idea. I didn’t mean to, you know. React like that.”

“Nate rescued me,” Jenny says. She looks miserable again. “He’s always rescuing me.”

“Is that why you wanted him as a boyfriend?” Eric asks, carefully. “Oh, Jen.”

Jenny rolls her eyes, her body language going tense and rigid, and Eric goes, “No, I get it, I really do get it. When everyone around you doesn’t respect you, the first person who respects you feels like a safe option to be with, and maybe they are. I sort of understand why you did some of that stuff, now.”

“I shouldn’t have participated in Chuck’s schemes, trying to break them up,” Jenny says, and Eric just nods.

“You shouldn’t have tried to hide the fact that my father was giving my mom fake medicine and lying to her about being terminally ill, either,” Eric says, giving Jenny a flat look. “That crossed a line, too.”

Jenny nods, and she isn’t looking at him. And Eric wishes that there was something he could do, something that he could’ve done earlier, because he gets it; the feeling of being totally alone and helpless, and how people would do anything to change that. They’re not so different after all, him and Jenny.

“Remember when we met for the first time?” Eric asks her. “I was at the Ostroff centre, and you would drop in and play board games with me.”

Jenny smiles. “Easier days.”

“That’s the person you really are,” Eric tells her. “It didn’t bother you that I was in the centre, that I’d attempted, and it didn’t mean anything to you, that I was Serena van der Woodsen’s younger brother. Remember trying to overthrow the monarchy at Constance?”

Jenny smiles and looks away.

“You can be that person again,” Eric says, and he believes it. He thinks of Jenny at sixteen, her dad too busy fighting with his mom to watch as his daughter succumbed to the horror and inescapability of a cruel, harsh world. Jenny, used by Blair and Chuck as part of scheme after scheme, a pawn in a war. Little J, who’d wanted fame and glory and fashion, and who’d lost herself along the way. Nobody had come back for her. Nobody had helped her up.

Well, Eric was here now. “You may be a bitch, but you’re my best friend,” he said, softly. “We help each other. I care about you. Okay?”

“You’re a better friend than I deserve,” Jenny said, soft and sincere. “Thank you.”

**Author's Note:**

> hope you liked this. xoxo, ivermectin ;P


End file.
